Human Resources Issues for Senior Management
Issue link: https://digital.hrreporter.com/i/343811
7 Photo: Sandra Strangemore associates had the highest guest satisfaction and also the highest profitability," said Wyllie. "And when we looked at our lowest quar- tile, the results were uncanny — it was the same thing. So the cor- relation was really helpful for us to really influence the franchise partners in the bottom quartile to really elevate the associate experi- ence because, ultimately, it was proving to drive profitability in our top-quartile performers. "It has been a real eye-opener for our non-complying franchise partners." Wyllie shared her story at a Canadian HR Reporter roundtable on the link between employee engagement and the customer experi- ence, held in partnership with Aimia and moderated by managing editor Todd Humber. Delta Hotels and Resorts, which does an annual engagement survey with its 6,000 employees, has found a clear link between employee engagement scores and guest satisfaction scores, said David Bird, senior vice-president of operations. "Almost certainly there are other business metrics that are not in line with where we want to be, and guest services is one of those ones. So we believe firmly that healthy and happy employees drive guest service which, in turn, drives profit. So that's really how we tie it back to the outcomes," he said. "We know if we improve on employee satisfaction, we'll improve on guest satisfaction as well." Aer an employee survey, Shoppers Dug Mart identified an opportunity to enhance both the bottom line and employee engage- ment — through technology, according to Tammy Van Eck, director of human resources business partnering. Year over year, the score around the question "I have tools and resources needed to be pro- ductive at work" was low compared to the industry benchmark, and the company wasn't gaining any traction, said Van Eck. So the retailer — which has 1,400 central office workers and 50,000 retail employees (under associate owners) — looked at the tools it of- fered them and decided it wasn't leading-edge. It started a project called Going Mobile in which it rolled out a wireless, bring-your-own- device program with access to Google email and filing, along with a cloud-based Internet. Now, workers can access the information they need while on the shop floor, she said. "It's been phenomenal," said Van Eck. "By opening up these… streams of work, employees were just delighted that they could now be so productive." A pulse survey rolled out aer the project saw a 21-point li in meet the panellists – roundtable on employee engagement and its impact on the customer experience. From leFt: tammy Van eck, director of human resources business partnering at Shoppers drug mart Jennifer trant, general manager, financial services, at aimia david bird, senior vice-president of operations at delta hotels and resorts ian hendry, vice-president of human resources and administration at Interac, and president of Strategic Capability network david Wexler, former vice-president of human resources at FreshBooks heather Wyllie, director of people development at Cara Sponsored by